These five ninjas were basically the peak of this generation of Konohagakure ninjas.
"I'm glad you all could join my Hokage Guard. In the days to come, Uchiha Raijin will assign tasks and manage resources. I hope you can work together and contribute your strength to the village," Tsunade said seriously as she stood up and looked at the five of them.
After Hatake Sakumo nodded along, Raijin also stood up and addressed the group.
"Alright, let's gather at the third training ground. I'll let you know what we need to do moving forward."
Nodding at Tsunade, Raijin led the five out of the Hokage office.
"To be honest, Jiraiya and Orochimaru don't count, but I paid a hefty price to get the three of you into the Hokage Guard," Raijin complained to Hatake Sakumo and the others as they sat cross-legged under a big tree at the third training ground.
"Price?"
Hatake Sakumo was taken aback and looked at Uchiha Raijin in surprise.
Wasn't this the captain taking the initiative to discuss this with Raijin?
"Yeah," Raijin replied, turning to Hatake Sakumo.
What else could it be?
"To get you transferred to the Hokage Guard, I promised to help Senju Osamu master Senjutsu."
Raijin blinked at Hatake Sakumo.
Didn't Hatake Sakumo know about this? Or…
Could the Senju family really be like that?
"I think I need to have a chat with my respected captain," Hatake Sakumo said quietly as he pulled out his white fang.
"Don't rush into that. First, let me arrange what you all need to do next."
Raijin turned to Hatake Sakumo and said,
Hatake Sakumo immediately looked at Raijin, and Orochimaru and Jiraiya also turned to Uchiha Raijin.
"Actually, in the days to come, the most important thing for all of you is to focus on training."
After saying this, Raijin looked at Orochimaru.
"Especially you, Orochimaru. I know you're very interested in jutsu, but don't neglect your training."
"Don't worry. I know what I should do."
Orochimaru nodded in response. He couldn't deny how important Senjutsu was to him.
Although he was also fascinated by the application of natural energy, the improvement it brought to himself was something Orochimaru could never give up.
Both Orochimaru and Senju Tobirama in the lab were just shadow clones.
"Hmm, tomorrow Sakumo, Duy, and Kurama Kumo, remember to come here. I'll help you all master Senjutsu."
Raijin nodded and didn't say much else, instead looking at the three ninja.
This idea came up with the establishment of the Hokage guard team.
Senjutsu definitely needed to be spread around.
After all, as a completely new power system, it would be hard for Senjutsu to develop to the same extent as the chakra system with just a few people's efforts.
So, he wanted to pass Senjutsu to a trusted group, which could then spread it through teacher-student or family traditions.
Once enough people learned it, Senjutsu would naturally shine.
This way, Konohagakure could transition from a purely chakra system to a system where chakra and Senjutsu coexist, without causing too much disruption to its existing structure.
Indeed, when Senjutsu becomes fully widespread, every ninja in the village would see a significant improvement.
However, the strongest would still be those who mastered it first.
After all, this group led by Raijin had been racing ahead on this new path for quite a while.
"Hmm."
Hatake Sakumo, Duy, and Yun exchanged glances and nodded. Before coming here, they had already learned a bit about Senjutsu.
"Alright, that's all. Everyone can go back and do what you enjoy."
Seeing this, Raijin nodded, stood up, and prepared to leave.
The Hokage Guard is all about freedom.
After all, if these ninjas, who represent the strongest power of Konohagakure, are busy, it means Konohagakure is in danger.
Right now, though, Konohagakure isn't in any danger. No matter how turbulent the shadows of the ninja world are, it's calm for the moment.
"Raijin, it's been a while since we've had a meal together, hasn't it?"
Just as Raijin was about to leave, Jiraiya suddenly said to him.
"What? Is the toad sage treating us?"
Raijin turned back with a light laugh and asked Jiraiya.
"Well, since I got an S-rank Ninjutsu from you, I should at least thank you," Jiraiya replied with a grin.
"Can I bring my family?"
Raijin nodded and asked Jiraiya without responding to his comment.
"Of course."
"Okay, see you later."
Raijin nodded again, and in a flash, he disappeared from the spot.
"From now on, we'll be fighting alongside each other. Let's grab a meal together."
Jiraiya looked at Hatake Sakumo and the others.
Naturally, everyone nodded and didn't refuse.
...
To the east of the Land of Water is an endless ocean, scattered with a few small islands.
On one of these islands, six ninjas were sitting together in a cave.
"I'm sorry, but the organization has run out of money, so you all may need to help with that," Suisei said, looking at the five ninjas in front of her, raising her hands in frustration.
To be honest, Suisei felt a bit overwhelmed when she got this news.
I helped you gather people and train the executors of the Moon Eye Plan.
Now I have to figure out how to make money for you too?
Black Zetsu, you really are something else.
But there's no choice. Even if she was unhappy inside, Suisei had to find a way to solve this problem.
After all, for now, she was the executor of the Moon Eye Plan.
No matter how you look at it, these problems had to be dealt with by her.
In any case, she couldn't let her character fall apart.
"I've always thought we should organize an action. It's been so long; Konohagakure must have forgotten about us by now," Dou said quietly, looking down, his tone showing no emotion.
As he grew older, Dou had clearly become much steadier compared to before.
"How could Konohagakure forget about you? According to the intel I have, Konohagakure's Anbu has never given up on tracking you down," Suisei said with a light laugh, addressing Dou.
"After all, your bodies never showed up on the battlefield, did they?"
"Instead of being passive like this, why not take the initiative?"
Before the fall of Kumogakure Village, Ay was the standout member of the AB Team, now serving as the representative of the surviving Kumogakure.
In Ay's view, rather than passively waiting for Konohagakure's ninjas to come to them, it would be better to take action and weaken Konohagakure's strength as much as possible.
"Taking the initiative? Are you saying you find life here too easy?"
Yuki looked up at Ay upon hearing this.
Everyone knows that taking the initiative and having the upper hand is good, but who can guarantee they can escape unharmed from the ninjas of Konohagakure? What if Uchiha Raijin comes to back them up...
Konohagakure can make countless mistakes, but they can only afford one mistake.
"If we do nothing here, we'll eventually be found by Konohagakure, right?"
Ay turned to look at Yuki as he spoke.
"Alright, whether we want to or not, we have to act now."
Suisei stepped in to stop what could turn into an argument.
Why hasn't Konohagakure found you?
It's definitely because they don't want to find you yet.
After all, it would be too easy for Konohagakure to locate you.
If they wanted to, Raijin could appear here in an instant and take you all out one by one.
By using Flying Thunder God Jutsu to enter his Kamui space and then releasing Raijin from there, the whole process takes just one second.
Taking care of these people would actually be quite simple.
In fact, it wouldn't even require Konohagakure to lift a finger; Suisei felt she could handle it herself.
As Suisei finished speaking, everyone turned to her.
"As of now, the ninjas of Konohagakure haven't shown any signs of coming out to sea, so we are still safe for the time being. However, just to be safe, we should prepare to retreat at any moment."
Suisei established the situation to prevent further disputes among the group.
"Yeah."
Everyone nodded, even the more impulsive Raikage and Dou didn't voice any objections this time.
After all, Uchiha Raijin is really strong. Even though they are confident in their own abilities, they wouldn't dare to claim they could defeat Uchiha Raijin.
"Now, in order for the people in our organization to survive better, we definitely need to take action. After all, if we run out of supplies, we won't need Konohagakure to attack us; we'll die on our own."
Suisei continued addressing the group.
"Yeah."
Everyone nodded again, continuing to look at Suisei.
"Right now, to buy supplies, we first need money. We can earn money through missions, which means we need to go to the underground bounty club.
By doing tasks at the underground bounty club, we can earn rewards and then use that money to buy supplies from Konohagakure."
Suisei paused for a moment at this point.
"However, if we do it this way, it's really too troublesome, so I've decided to take action against Konohagakure directly in the upcoming mission."
Suisei said to the group.
"Take action against Konohagakure directly?"
Yuki looked at Suisei in disbelief.
Do you even hear what you're saying? The others also stared at Suisei in shock.
Even Ay, who had just suggested something similar, had never thought about raiding Konohagakure.
Not to mention whether it was possible to steal anything, even getting through the gates of Konohagakure seemed nearly impossible right now.
"According to the intel, in a couple of days, a large shipment of supplies from Sunagakure and Iwagakure will arrive at Konohagakure, and our goal is to take action once these supplies are handed over to the Konohagakure ninja."
Suisei continued explaining the plan as if she hadn't heard the doubts from the others.
As the executor of the Moon's Eye plan, Suisei had no choice but to come up with such a strategy to weaken Konohagakure's power.
Actually, there was nothing wrong with it; everyone here knew about this plan, and so would the people of Konohagakure.
Suisei was quite curious about how Raijin would handle this situation.
How could one protect supplies that should belong to Konohagakure and the lives of the accompanying ninja without raising suspicion?
It was a tough challenge to think about.
"Okay."
Yuki thought for a moment, then nodded in agreement with Suisei's plan.
The others didn't oppose it either. After all, taking some supplies from Konohagakure was still somewhat acceptable.
Konohagakure was indeed strong, and they had many skilled ninja.
But surely not everyone escorting the supplies could be that powerful, right?
As for whether this would attract Konohagakure's attention, please. Konohagakure had always been aware of their presence; the reason there hadn't been any confrontation so far was simply that Konohagakure hadn't found them yet.
As the group left, Black Zetsu slowly appeared before Suisei.
"It's time to witness your bond with Nagato, Suisei-san."
Black Zetsu casually sat in front of Suisei.
Nagato was the name Black Zetsu had given, and he lived alongside some survivors from Amegakure and Kirigakure.
While being taught by Suisei, the goal was to restore the nation.
This operation has multiple purposes, and gathering supplies is just one of them.
The more important goal is to provoke Nagato into activating the Rinnegan.
As for how to get Nagato to activate the Rinnegan,
to be honest, Black Zetsu thinks Uchiha Motohide's method is pretty good.
This is the only idea Black Zetsu can come up with right now.
After all, they can't just let Suisei die to provoke Nagato into activating the Rinnegan. In Black Zetsu's eyes, Suisei is far more important than Nagato.
There are plenty of Uzumaki clan members, but there's only one older brother of Uchiha Raijin.
"Ah… who knows? If he can activate it, great. If not, I'll just kill him."
Suisei said this casually while pressing his lips together.
"I'm sure he can activate it. You've been really good to that kid over the years," Black Zetsu said with a smile.
"Everything is for the Moon Eye Plan."
Suisei shot a glance at Black Zetsu, clearly annoyed, and then her form twisted and she vanished from the spot.
In this place filled with bugs and jackals, every expression on Suisei's face was carefully designed.
Only the impatience he showed when facing Black Zetsu was genuine.
...
People's joys and sorrows don't connect.
No matter what happens, Raijin's life is still very comfortable right now.
In the barbecue restaurant of Konohagakure, the newly formed Hokage Guard members and the Hokage himself are happily bonding with laughter.
(End of chapter)
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